Intentions to Marry, 1918 Albertland to Kohukohu

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840475, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1918 is bound in six volumes (a to f) with continuous page numbers. Each volume contains a different set of districts, going from north to south.

1918a contains pages 1-432, covering districts from Albertland to Kohukohu

Page 299

District of Gisborne Quarter ending 30 September 1918 Registrar H. G. Hebden

Date of Notice

Names and Surnames of Parties

BDM Match

Condition

Calling or Profession

Age

Dwelling Place

Length of Residence

Marriage Place

Folio

Consent

Date of Certificate

Officiating Minister

6 July 1918

Albert Henry Bugden
May Gordon

Albert Henry Bugden
May Gordon
💍 1918/4540

Widower
Spinster

Soldier
Domestic Duties

38
21

Rotorua, Gisborne
Gisborne

3 days
20 years

Private residence of Mrs J. Huston, 254 Salisbury Road, Gisborne

4058

6 July 1918

Rev Joseph Carlisle, Baptist Minister, Gisborne

No	72
Date of Notice	6 July 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Henry Bugden	May Gordon
	💍 1918/4540
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Soldier	Domestic Duties
Age	38	21
Dwelling Place	Rotorua, Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	3 days	20 years
Marriage Place	Private residence of Mrs J. Huston, 254 Salisbury Road, Gisborne
Folio	4058
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 July 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev Joseph Carlisle, Baptist Minister, Gisborne

13 July 1918

Wesley James Sushames
Alice Ethel Cumming

Wesley James Sushames
Alice Ethel Cumming
💍 1918/4541

Bachelor
Spinster

Returned Soldier Labourer
Nurse

31
29

Gisborne
Gisborne

About 13 years
Life

The Office of The Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

4059

13 July 1918

Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

No	73
Date of Notice	13 July 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Wesley James Sushames	Alice Ethel Cumming
	💍 1918/4541
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Returned Soldier Labourer	Nurse
Age	31	29
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	About 13 years	Life
Marriage Place	The Office of The Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne
Folio	4059
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 July 1918
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

17 July 1918

Henry Stevens
Edith May Habgood

Henry Stevens
Edith May Habgood
💍 1918/4518

Bachelor
Spinster

Station Manager (Returned Soldier)
Home Duties

28
28

Gisborne
Patutahi

3 days
Life

Church of England, Patutahi, Poverty Bay

4060

17 July 1918

Rev H. Ths. Rawnsley, Church of England, Patutahi

No	74
Date of Notice	17 July 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Stevens	Edith May Habgood
	💍 1918/4518
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Station Manager (Returned Soldier)	Home Duties
Age	28	28
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Patutahi
Length of Residence	3 days	Life
Marriage Place	Church of England, Patutahi, Poverty Bay
Folio	4060
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 July 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev H. Ths. Rawnsley, Church of England, Patutahi

23 July 1918

William Te Upokoiri Cooper
Margaret Tellier Paewai

Wimmian Te Apatu Cooper
Margaret Te Uira Paewai
💍 1918/5280

Wiremu Te Apatu Cooper
Margaret Te Uira Paewai
💍 1918/3441

Bachelor
Spinster

Law Clerk
Domestic Duties

32
23

Gisborne
Gisborne

7 years
7 months

Private residence of Turuki Pere, Northcote Road, Gisborne

4341

23 July 1918

Rev Matt Cowley, (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints)

No	75
Date of Notice	23 July 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Te Upokoiri Cooper	Margaret Tellier Paewai
BDM Match (72%)	Wimmian Te Apatu Cooper	Margaret Te Uira Paewai
	💍 1918/5280
BDM Match (68%)	Wiremu Te Apatu Cooper	Margaret Te Uira Paewai
	💍 1918/3441
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Law Clerk	Domestic Duties
Age	32	23
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	7 years	7 months
Marriage Place	Private residence of Turuki Pere, Northcote Road, Gisborne
Folio	4341
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 July 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev Matt Cowley, (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints)

23 July 1918

Stanley Lewis Wickens
Madeline Elizabeth Roberts

Stanley Huia Wickens
Madalene Elizabeth Roberts
💍 1918/4519

Bachelor
Spinster

Returned Soldier Draper's Assistant
Domestic Duties

26
25

Manutuke, Poverty Bay
Manutuke

2 months
Life

Church of England, Manutuke

4061

23 July 1918

Rev H. Ths. Rawnsley, Church of England, Patutahi

No	76
Date of Notice	23 July 1918
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stanley Lewis Wickens	Madeline Elizabeth Roberts
BDM Match (87%)	Stanley Huia Wickens	Madalene Elizabeth Roberts
	💍 1918/4519
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Returned Soldier Draper's Assistant	Domestic Duties
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Manutuke, Poverty Bay	Manutuke
Length of Residence	2 months	Life
Marriage Place	Church of England, Manutuke
Folio	4061
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 July 1918
Officiating Minister	Rev H. Ths. Rawnsley, Church of England, Patutahi

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

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What is an Intention to Marry?

The 1854 Marriage Act required Pakeha settlers (and later Maori) to register their intention to marry from 1855. The resulting Notices of intention to marry were sent by the district registrars to the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages and bound into large volumes, each containing a year of notices. These registers were eventually deposited with Archives New Zealand.

What information does an ItM record?

A typical Intention to Marry notice records:

the bride and groom's full names
occupation of the groom (and sometimes the bride)
their ages
district where the marriage would take place
how long they had resided in the district
Where the marriage would take place (eg, a specific church)
Who would officiate the marriage (eg, a minister)
The date of the notice and also a date when the certificate was issued. Marriages had to take place within 3 months, and usually occurred within a week or so of the certificate date.
If one of the parties was under 21, a parent who consented to their marriage was usually specified

These details can provide clues for genealogical and historical research. Knowing the date and district makes it easier to look for wedding notices in Papers Past, and the amount of time that the parties had resided in a district can offer clues to whether a person was born in NZ, or when they immigrated.

However, finding individual records in the Intentions to Marry registers was typically a slow and manual process, usually requiring an in-person visit to Archives NZ's Wellington office (during limited opening hours) and using a handwritten card catalogue index to look up individual names.

Eight years of the registers had been digitised by Archives NZ prior to 2024, but even these digital versions required the use of a manual index and usually examining several pages to locate specific records.

What is the Intentions to Marry Project?

This project aims to transcribe the New Zealand Intentions to Marry registers (from 1855 to 1925) with the assistance of new technology (AI), making the records freely available and easily searchable.

The ITM records have also been cross-referenced with the registered marriages at DIA Births, Deaths and Marriages, where possible (a small fraction of the recorded intentions to marry did not become a registered marriage).

Currently we have almost all records between 1855 and 1908. More registers are being added almost every week.

The project is led by Luke Howison, a web developer who made the free genealogical research search tool NZ Ancestor Search Helper and Archway-style Collections Search. There are also some wonderful volunteers assisting with digitising the registers.

Can I volunteer to help?

Yes, you can! You can sign up to correct errors in the transcribed records and match ITMs with registered marriages.

I am also looking for Wellington-based volunteers to help me digitise more years of the registers. I can provide lighting equipment and a 'clicker' (to trigger your phone's camera).

How is the transcription done?

There are several steps to digitising and transcribing the records:

Digitising the registers (taking clean, straight, high-quality photos)
Processing the digitised pages by straightening, cropping and sharpening the images
Transcribing each page with a combination of AI tools
Matching each ITM with a registered marriage when possible
Human verification of the transcribed information

The main LLM (AI) used are the Google Gemini Pro and Flash models, which have excellent 'Vision' capabilities, and a generous free tier.

Archives NZ has released the register years they have digitised (1865-69, 1872, 1874 and 1880) under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license.

The Intention to Marry registers (up to 1925) are more than 100 years old, so their Crown Copyright has expired, putting them in the public domain. This also applies to any 'mechanical reproductions' (eg, pictures or photocopies) of their content without substantial alteration.

The transcribed records on this website are released under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal license, which allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, even for commercial purposes, while giving credit to the creator (NZ Intentions to Marry Project).